Eastern Set to Host 41st Annual Pelluer Invitational

Apr 24, 2012

Eagles will also compete at the Duane Hartman Invite in
Spokane

The Eastern Washington University track and field team will host
the 41st Annual Pelluer Invitational Friday (April 27) at Roos
Field in Cheney. On Saturday, the Eagles will head to the Community
Colleges of Spokane for the Duane Hartman Invitational.

Pelluer field events will begin at noon, while track events are
slated to start at 4 p.m., leading off with the women’s
3,000-meter steeplechase. The other teams who will be present at
the meet include Central Washington, Whitworth, Northwest Nazarene,
Carroll College, Community Colleges of Spokane and Lewis-Clark
State

The meet is dedicated to Arnie Pelluer, a former Eastern track
and cross country coach in 1970-71, and also a coach at Whitworth
and Yakima Valley Community College. He started the twilight meet
in ’71, but later died in a swimming accident the same year.
The event was renamed in his honor.

“It’s a great connection with our past and to
remember someone who laid down the foundation to allow us to do the
work we do today,” said men’s head coach Stan
Kerr. “To acknowledge the memory and have our
athletes at home in front of their friends and family is a great
recipe for a good meet.”

The Eagles are looking towards the final stretch of meets before
the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championships held in Bozeman,
Mont., on May 11-12. Including the Pelluer and Duane Hartman, there
are three meets left for athletes to improve or hit their Big Sky
qualifying standard. The Eagles have 40 qualifying marks (25 men,
15 women) going into the Pelluer Invitational.

According to Kerr, competing at home could help improve the
athletes’ odds.

“They know they get to sleep in their own beds,” he
added. “We aren’t traveling or working the odd hours of
an odd meet schedule. They know it’s a chance to compete in
our very good facility, and they want to do well because they have
a lot of family coming to watch.

SEASON NOTES

Big Sky
Conference Preseason PollsVoting is calculated with each team receiving nine
points for a first place vote, eight points for a second place
vote, etc. Coaches are allowed to vote for their respective teams.
Below are the final results with the number of first place votes in
parenthesis.

TOP SEASON PERFORMANCES

Shene Davis-Jumps -
Sr. – 3L - Yakima, Wash. / Selah HS ‘07
Davis qualified for the Big Sky Outdoor Championships in both the
triple jump and long jump at the Long Beach Invitational. She moved
to third in EWU history in the long jump with a mark of 19-6 1/4,
which also places her on top of the Big Sky Conference. Her mark of
38-9 1/2 in the triple jump put her fourth in school history.Kersee Lind-Multi -
Sr. – 3L - Hermiston, Ore. / Hermiston HS
‘07
Lind, in his first decathlon of the season, broke his personal
record and qualified for the Big Sky Conference Outdoor
Championships with a score of 6,735. The score puts Lind second
all-time in school history.Stephanie Dye-Distance
- Sr. – 3L - Chatteroy, Wash. / Riverside HS
‘08
Dye shattered her personal record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase
by nearly 20 seconds with a time of 11:17.32, earning herself a
conference qualifying mark.Robin Taylor – Pole Vault – So. – 1L -
Blaine, Wash. / Blaine HS '10 Taylor moved into fourth all-time at Eastern with her
jump of 12-5 1/2 at the WAOR V in Spokane.Kyle King – Distance – Sr. – 3L -
Coupeville, Wash. / Coupeville HS '08
With his 14:10.42 time in the 5,000-meter run at the Stanford
Invitational, King completely shattered his own outdoor personal
record by 25 seconds, moving him into third all-time in Eastern
history.Tim Pettit - Distance - So. - 1L - Kent, Wash. / Kentwood
HS ‘10
Pettit placed second in the 800-meter run at the Al Manuel Invite
with a career-best time of 1:52.38. The time qualified him for the
outdoor conference championships.Angelica Rodriguez-Sprints - So. - 1L - Hermiston, Ore. / Hermiston HS
'10
Rodriguez matched her career best in the 400 meters with a time of
57.14 at the Al Manuel Invitational. The time places the sophomore
ninth all-time in school history in the 400. She also ranks tenth
in school history in the 800, with a time of 2:16.88 on Feb. 12,
2011 at the Husky Invitational.Michelle Coombs - Throws/Jumps - So. - 1L - Hermiston,
Ore. / Hermiston HS '08 Coombs won the javelin with a throw of 147-11 at the
Dusty Lane Invitational on March 17, the first time she’s
thrown in nearly two years. As a freshman in 2009, she was the Big
Sky champion in the event, but injuries have slowed her down since
then. She ranks third in school history with a 163-1 throw in
2009.Brad Michael – Sprints – Fr. – HS -
Vancouver, Wash. Michael, EWU’s freshman phenom, continued where he
left off from the indoor season, by winning both the 200- and
400-meter dashes at the Dusty Lane Invitational. His time of 48.18
in the 400 met the Big Sky qualifying mark. During the indoor
season, Michael broke the school record in the 400 (46.97) en route
to a second-place finish, and he placed third in the 200 with a
time of 21.63 that ranks third in school history. He was also was
part of the 4x400 relay team which won the Big Sky title with a
school-record time of 3:11.04.Steven Warner - Hurdles - So. - 1L - Kent, Wash. /
Kentwood HS '09 Warner, the 2012 Big Sky Indoor champion in the 60-meter
hurdles, finished the 110-meter hurdles in 14.80 March 31 at the Al
Manuel Invitational. His career best in that event is 14.60
set as a freshman in 2010. Warner had a school-record time of 8.07
in the 60-meter hurdles indoors earlier this season, good for
second all-time.Cody Humphrey – Throws - Jr. - 1L - Hermiston, Ore.
/ Hermiston HS '09 Humphrey, who is also an tight end for EWU’s
football team, qualified for the Big Sky Championships with a
career-best throw of 156-11 in the discus at the Dusty Lane Open on
March 17.